Dear College Presidents,
Can we chat?
For the past decade, I have devoted much of my activism and scholarship around issues of equity and justice in higher education, particularly focusing on the needs of undocumented college students. Today, the Trump Administration just announced that he plans to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which would allow eligible undocumented students to apply for a work permit, enabling them to put their well-earned college degrees or other talents and skills to good use. At this moment in time, you have a community of students on your college campus who are hurting in unprecedented ways. They are scared about the future, they are anxious about their families at home, and they are stressed about how they will financially survive, let alone complete a college degree, if they are unable to work.
I know many of you have signed the Pomona College letter urging the President to uphold DACA, I know that many of you have made public statements within your college systems about the importance of continuing DACA to the mission and equity values of your institution. I know many of you have sent emails to your undocumented students reiterating your support and the plans in place. This is all well-intentioned but it is not enough. The notion of “actions speak louder than words” applies in this case. Below I list some recommendations for you and your fellow senior administrators on how to humanely handle the DACA announcement.
1. Speak to undocumented students personally and directly. I know the time of a college president is limited but please make time to meet with the students who are impacted by the DACA announcement. Although they do appreciate your emails, they want to be seen as viable members of your campus community and you need to hear their stories. Please also ask them what they need from their campus administrators in order to feel safe and supported.
2. Create a webpage affiliated with your institution for undocumented students and allies to centralize resources, information, scholarship and grants, employment opportunities (non-profit organizations) and updates. This will be helpful to your DACA alumni members who will be also possibly be displaced from their employment.
3. For undocumented students, Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement (ICE) is the culprit of much of their stress. Many fear that ICE will descend on to their campuses and they will be plucked out of their classes to be deported. Create plans for how to address ICE with campus and local police. Research demonstrates that watching someone being deported can have long-term traumatizing impacts on the greater community. If ICE were to enter your campuses, this will have lasting effects on all students attending your college.
